Friday, April 24, 2015

April 23, 2015

Well, Spring has finally sprung here in Old Nauvoo. Just to give you a flavor of what things are beginning to look like around here, here are some of the trees we took pictures of this week.

Tulips have begun popping up all over as well. Take a look at these in the Women's Garden by our Visitors' Center.

Only surpassed by those on the Temple grounds.

One of the annual activities that happens here in Old Nauvoo is the prairie grass burn, when we light fire to an acre of prairie grass--with the local fire department present, of course--to illustrate how fast it can burn. Some estimates have indicated that it can burn up to 70 miles per hour. Our little acre is totally consumed in about three to four minutes.

This spring we have acquired two new oxen. They came to us from Maine. They are a breed of cattle know as Devon. The Devon is an ancient breed of cattle from the south western English county of Devon. As you can see, they can have fairly long horns. To keep them from poking one another, we put some "purdy" brass balls on the tips of their horns. Their names are Dan and Duke. Aren't they lovely?!

A couple of weeks ago, we went down to Quincy, IL, to see a few of the sites down there. We went there a while ago and posted a few pictures then, but this time we visited an old Savings & Loan that has been turned into a museum. The craftsmanship of the interior was amazing. Besides the artifacts exhibited inside, they have also turned part of it into a dining area.

On our prep-day this week, we decided to go up to Burlington, IA, to do our shopping and visit a little street that several people have told us about, Snake Alley. The alley itself is impressive; it's a steep red brick roadway that goes steeply down the hillside. But just as amazing are the houses in the area that were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

This week we held our District Meetings together at a place called Richardson's Point. It's a place where the saints stopped on their trek west due to the rain and muddy roads that were nearly impassable. While they were there, a couple of people in their group died, a 30-year-old man and a 15-month-old baby. The people who live in that area now--mostly non-Mormons--have built a memorial and maintained the grave sites.

The owner of the property has done a lot of research about the saints passing through there and shared with us what he has found out.

Last week we enjoyed our annual talent show. This year our teamster site leader was in charge of putting the program together, and it was wonderful. He is able to get people to participate who normally would never be caught dead on stage. I am including just sample of the numbers that we enjoyed.

The "Dalton Gang"

Sister Veenker

"June Carter and Johnny Cash" (Elder & Sister Hatch)

Our Young Sister Missionaries

Elder and Sister Schultz

The famed "Teamster Choir"!

As you can see, our mission is FULL of variety and enjoyment. Serving here in Nauvoo, I'm afraid, would spoil anyone. We have truly made some wonderful friends here. We're looking forward to the summer crowds who come here to enjoy Nauvoo. There really is a special spirit felt here.